


Nightmares

by Virtualnepha



Category: All Time Low
Genre: Blind Character, Deaf Character, Disability, Dreams and Nightmares, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-05 07:19:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11008638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Virtualnepha/pseuds/Virtualnepha
Summary: Alex's dreams are prophetic.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the all time low young renegade writing contest and I'm almost done thank you

_Grey._

_Alex wandered down a dimly lit, oddly narrow hallway; letting his hands brush against the golden designs embroidered on the otherwise dull silver walls. It was so quiet in here, he's never experienced this sort of silence- can't hear his own footsteps. Can't see his reflection in the mirrors he passes on his left. But can on the right._

_Is he dead? His beat up vans scrape and nudge up against the pristine hardwood, not making a sound. The stroke of his hands on the oak railings don't reach his ears._

He thinks nothing of it, even when he wakes up.

- 

Alex took a deep breath, pulling himself into a sitting position on the edge of his bed.That wasn't really a nightmare. A bit unsettling maybe. Nightmare? No.

He didn't know what it was, really. He was having the weirdest dreams lately. He considered writing it down, before mentally scratching that idea before yawning and actually scratching his back.

What's one more bad dream?

Since Alex could remember, he had strange dreams. Usually they were bad, sometimes they were good- but regardless of their alignment, most were prophetic. A foreshadowing of what was to come. It never became less unsettling.

Bzzzzzzzzzz. Bzzz.

The sleepy boy weighed the pros and cons before sliding the green button.

-

Therapy isn't any better than it usually was. Dr. Dawson was understanding, all bright smiles and kind words. But he could never truly understand.

This wasn't a "gift", it was a curse and a burden. He had told him- and his receptionist -every day.

Zack was nice too. He didn't talk much, which was refreshing. Not that he didn't like when people talked, it's when people expected him to respond that he got anxious.

"Any new ones, Alex?" Rian, whom Alex was on a first name basis with now, already knew the answer; furrowing his eyebrows, twiddling his pen between two fingers. They sat in a small room, smelled like lavender.

Alex closed his eyes and nodded.

"Brown eyes" He whispered, before continuing. "Ones much, much lighter than the other one. But both brown."

Rian nods silently so as not to interrupt.

"Maybe ones beige, and ones cherry wood" He considered, mostly to himself.

"Is that all that was there this time?"

"No" he admitted, "but I can't remember the rest"

-

Monday hit Alex like a freight train. 

"Darnit" he murmured to himself, his alarm blaring.

-

School is so shaky. And Alex thought he had been tired before!

He sighed dramatically, producing an obscene stack of textbooks from his locker. It's a good thing they had a no tolerance bullying policy because Alex felt he just might be the perfect candidate to fall prey to a bored jock or honestly whoever else.

Besides the occasional requests for Alex to "see into their future", the easily irritated and emotionally aloof boy was left alone.

Oddly enough, not being the world's most observant individual; he noticed something strange. The locker to the left of him suddenly had a lock. Alex peered through as best he could, concluding it was indeed in use. Weird because he specifically chose this locker because it was near no one else's, no one liked these lockers so he was always alone. Until now, he guesses!

He lets out one last dramatic groan beforehand he heads to science.

Alex got to Mr. Witticks 3rd explanation of intergalactic black matter before-

_He'd never been in this part of the library before, the pages smelled like vanilla and one of the books looked anywhere near new. He stumbled and tripped over mounds of literature, as careful as he could, nervous to rip and tear._

_He got to a point of the store where the sunlight came boldly through the curtains, stark contrast to the rest of the dimly lit building. He opened the only book on the third shelf, still coming apart in his careful hands._

_The authors note was just a set of eyes._

"Ones beige ones mocha" he muttered softly to himself, upon waking.

"Welcome back, Mr. Gaskarth" Mr. Wittick spoke. "Did you dream of detention?"

 


	2. Chapter 2

Detention sucked and Alex was still tired. He left his science room an hour after school was out, with an entire school years education level worth of knowledge concerning rock types.

He let the books hit his bedroom desk with a thud, rubbing his temples softly.

4pm, the clock read.

"Ugh", Alex vocalized. Starting on the essay he wouldn't be able to finish before the next school day.

Whatever, he thought, he'd just skip.

-

He didn't skip. He forgot how much he needed these credits.

When he got to his locker again, there was someone walking away from it. Or the one right next to it, rather. He couldn't really see their face, only a streak of blonde though a mess of black hair.

Alex shrugged it off, he'd gotten this far without making any friends. Why start now?

The answer was given to him as soon as he hit history class. Alex, being the only one without a group- would have to complete a group/partner sized protect by himself.

Friends would have come in handy then, he supposed, getting to work in the back corner of the class. 30 minutes in and the desk adjacent to him rattled. He turned to look at who had just sat next to him in the seat.

There was a boy, certainly around his age, Hair touseled and swept over one eye- a blond streak down the side, stark contrast to the deep brown.

Alex was smitten, even only seing half of his face. He liked his aura, he could sense these kinds of things.

Not that he would do anything about it, being awkward and depressed took a toll on his social skills, as in he didn't have them- didn't really need to have them because Alex didn't need anyone.

He briefly considered that maybe that's why he didn't have anyone.

-  
_Alex sat at the dinner table, covered in blood. Drenched in it. It dripped off his fork, pooled around his plate. Soaked into the carpet at his feet._

_"What's wrong dear?" His mother asked, facetiously, adorned in her best pink sunday outfit and jewelery. She didn't even look up from her cup of tea._

_"Eat your dinner, son." His dad demanded, eyes glued to the football game._

_Alex opened his mouth to cry, to object- ask for help. But he suddenly couldn't speak, not a sound coming out; only a dribble of blood down his chin._

-

It took him about three days to change his mind about Jack.

As he found out, Jack- as he'd come to know him from hearing roll call -didn't have a class partner either. He'd sneak stealthily glances at him, not so stealth to Jack (unknown to Alex) even being blind in one eye (also unknown to Alex).

He'd never even truly seen the other side of Jack's face, successfully shielded by a lock of deliberately placed hair.

Except for now, as he turned to him in response to a request from their teacher; momentum of his head moving displacing his bangs.

"Want to be partners?" Jack suggested, smiling lightly but warmly; a hint of nervousness or something like fear hiddin under his expression.

"They're actually more like a caramel and umber" Alex mumbled to himself in awe.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh" Alex said "nothing...I would like to be partners yeah."

"Great" he smiled again. "If you're wondering about my eye, it's cause I can't see in it. I also can't hear in one of my ears I know I look weird and... Actually am pretty weird but-"

"They're pretty" Alex blushed, not wanting to hear Jack insult himself. "Your eyes"

"... Thank you," Jack breathed, never really hearing that before. He thought maybe the boy was just being nice, but that was more than many others  were willing to do.

"You're pretty" Alex continued.

-

"His name is Jack" Alex confessed, biting his lip in nerve wracking enticipation.

"I see" Rian grinned, smiling at Alex then back down to the notepad he was scribbling on. "What's he like Alex? How long have you talked?"

"He's lovely" Alex said, holding tightly onto a cool stone in his palm.

"He gave me this" he continued, turning his hand over and dropping the tiny gem onto the desk gently.

"An amethyst" Rian awed, "does it have any significance?"

Scooping it up protectively, and putting it in his pocket; Alex sighed contently.

"He said it was for the nightmares"

-  
Jack leaned pressed up against Alex on the couch, palm overturned in his friends lap.

"I used to do this when I was younger" Alex chuckled, tracing his lifelines with delicate fingers.

"Why?" Jack asked simply, cuddling into Alex's side.

"It was a fast way to make money when you kind of know what you're talking about" He answered. "I didn't like it much because I didn't care about sny of the lives I was supposed to be seeing into. I can read tarrots too, all that shit. I won't do that though."

Jack hummed, watching Alex's hands touch his.

"I see trauma." He said bluntly. "But that doesn't stifle your longing for adventure, right?"

Jack says nothing as Alex runs a thumb over another line on his palm.

"You're cautious but enthusiastic. You have so much energy, that won't change. Even when we're old as hell" Alex laughs.

Jack laughs too, not missing that "we".

"Nothing's gonna bring you down." He assured, more of a personal promise than anything he saw. "Back to that trauma, though" he pried, placing a firm hand over the ever slightly shaking palm.

"What happened, Jack?" He asked, voice small.

Jack laced their fingers together, resting his head over Alex's heartbeat.

-

Alex didn't dream.

-

School was different. To Alex, having a friend was strange. He walked Jack to his first three classes, Jack walked him to his last.

They shared the two lockers now, one being for their school necessities and the other their horde of various snacks.

No one bothered them, which was bizarre to Jack; having spent his whole life being bothered.

In every period they had the same, they pushed their desks together; Jack claiming it was a cautionary for his partial blind and deafness. This having the potential to make classwork exceeding difficult.

In class Alex sometimes sketched out his nightmares, all angry lines and smudged graphite. Jack took notes while he did. Alex didn't really have anything to draw today so he doodled Jack as Batman- he liked to be productive.

Ironically enough, Jack jotted down both their sets of notes; glancing at Alex's notebook with a smirk.

"Honour student material" he remarked, blushing.

Alex scoffed, tightly clutching the rock in his pocket.

-

Having Jack was...nice. It changed a lot, the nightmares were less frequent. Less severe. When they were bad, it was nice to have a shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold and if Alex was just maybe a little bit falling ocean deep in love with Jack then that was to be expected.

Alex still hated being social, talking Jack out of any outing he had planned in order to lure him back to his empty home. Today was such a day, the sunlight hitting the two boys curled up under Alex's abnormally fluffy blankets.

_Alex's hands grasped desperately at nothing, body sinking further into the sea. Air becoming farther and farther from his sight._

Jack watched Alex stir in his sleep, troubled, which was normal for him but no less upsetting for his friend.

_He could see the air bubble to the surface, desperate gasps of air threatening to be ripped from his mouth. His hands swung violently as he sunk deeper still._

He wrapped his hands around Alex, bringing him closer to where he could press his head against his chest and hold it there; lightly stroking his hair.

_Then he felt a hand pull him up._

"Morning, sleeping beauty" Jack chirped, still holding him close.

Alex blinked twice, then kissed him.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

"My dreams haven't really told me anything, in a while" Alex commented; sucking down a smoothie, sitting in an outside table at a restaurant Jack had an insisted Alex let him take him to. At least it was sunny, totally smoothie weather- though to Jack every season was smoothie material.

"Besides when you dreamed of me?" Jack asked, giving him his full attention having finished all of his food light-years before his boyfriend of five months.

"That and you failing that history test" he said.

"Yeah and you totally could have given me some sort of warning for that!" Jack complained, throwing the wadded up receipt at Alex and giggling when it bounced off his head.

"I didn't want to jinx you! Sometimes they mean something, sometimes they mean nothing. I think the fact that the only preparation for that test you had what a makeshift combination of strip poker and flash card studying was more prophetic to you failing than my dream was honestly."

"You like strip poker." Jack mumbled.

"George Washington isn't sexy and I also like your 4.0" Alex said, more supportive of Jack's academic achievements than even Jack's own parents ever could be.

"I like you" Jack blushed, stealing a sip of Alex's smoothie and batting his eyelashes.

"You're pretty" Alex said, smiling up at him.

"What?" Jack teased, pointing to the ear with the hearing aid. "I can't hear all that well"

You're beautiful. Alex laughed and signed.

-

It had been three weeks. Every night, every single night it was the same dream. It was impossible for Alex to brush this off.

"Stay with me, Jack" Alex begged, "Please"

"You know I would," Jack sighed. "You know I would if I could."

Alex buried his head farther into the crook of Jack's neck. Kissing it chastely and listening to his boyfriends heartbeat when he moved to lay on his chest.

"I'm right here, right now" Jack assured him. "Sleep."

-

It was the same dream, every single night.

_Hands. Blood. Lips. Blood. Face. Blood. Alex looked to Jack deliriously, dabbing the wounds he was covered in with alcohol covered cotton balls, biting his lip with guilt as his lover hissed in pain._

_"Jack, please." Alex begged, lips coppery in taste from CPR._

_Jack said nothing, mute- unseeing, unhearing. Dead. Curled up on his living room floor, bleeding out on his carpet._

_"Jack!" Alex sobbed, pressing down on his chest in now irratic bursts._

_He scooped him up in his arms, attempting to preserve his warmth. Jack hated being cold, he couldn't let him go cold._

He woke up sobbing, covered in sweat.

-

It was a week later there was a crash downstairs. Alex's heart rate picked up immediately, he frantically searched for the bat he left under the bed.

Bat in hand, ready to swing, he crept downstairs to find something his dreams hadn't quite prepared him for.

"Jack!" He screamed, running to the figure that just collapsed on the ground. "Jack what's going on?"

"Alex I can't see" Jack groaned. "I can't see at all Alex"

It wasn't until Jack uncovered his face that he saw it. Jack had gotten beaten up- badly. His seeing eye was swollen completely shut; blood dripping from his eyelashes. His other eye wasn't much better, in fact, everything was bloody. His eyebrow was cut, there were multiple contusions on his face and neck and Alex hadn't even looked at his body yet.

"Jack" Alex hissed, peeling off his wet clothes. "Baby, what happened?"

"I'm sorry I never told you, Alex" Jack sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

-

"Your dad did this?" Alex asked catiously. Haven given Jack a (painful) bath, he currently had him belly up on his bed, full of bandages. He had to guide him, Jack almost completely blind right now. Only going off of the limited amount he could see in his very swollen eye.

"For the second time in my life" Jack confessed. "When you started having those dreams I...kind of felt it. But I didn't want to worry you, and I couldn't really do anything about it until he actually did something again."

"So you will? That is..do something about it" Alex asked.

"Can I stay here for a while?"

"No" Alex said, smiling. "but you can stay here forever.

I love you so much. Jack sighed.

"I love you harder" Alex whispered, leaning into his left ear before placing a soft kiss to it.

-

It had been 6 months since Jack had moved in, he had driven him to therapy this time. Opting to sitting in the car playing Mario Kart until was done, showering him with supportive words and kisses before he went in.

"It's nice to see you, Alex." Zack smiled. "But in a way, it's nice to not see you so much"

Alex just grinned back.

"It's really good to see you"

-

What's it been, Alex?" Rian asked, showing off that famous toothy grin again. "Four months?"

"It has" Alex replied, gripping his old little stone in his pocket.

"How've you been? How's the parasomnia?'

"Conquered!" He replied joyfully.

"Anxiety?"

"Manageable" He said.

Rian made a note or two, smiling the whole time. That made Alex happy, it made him feel like he was doing well.

"So when do I get to meet this famous Jack, that has made my patient of 11 years suddenly not come to see me anymore?" He pouted playfully.

Alex laughed at that, wanting to let him know it had been much longer than 11 years but not seeing the point, thoughts of Jack sending his mind and train of thought into a flurry.

"He'd love to meet you" Alex assured.

"Have you told him everything?" Rian pondered.

Alex tilted his head in thought, looking up as if the answer was on the ceiling. He looked back to Rian and the grin returned to his face once again.

"Mostly. Not yet, but I will."

"When you're ready?"

"Yeah, he said. And when he is" Alex nodded.

Rian nodded, fully understanding even if not agreeing.

"We should all meet up sometime. As...friends. I'll bring Zack."

Alex smirked at that.

"Yeah," he confirmed, "You're 'friends' with Zack."

Dr. Dawson rolled his eyes fondly, writing down something else.

"Are you happy?" He asked, not looking up from his notebook.

Alex didn't even miss a beat before replying.

"Truly"

 


End file.
